LAKE OF SOULS: THE COLLECTED SHORT FICTION
By Ann Leckie
Best known for her award-winning Imperial Radch trilogy of novels, Ann Leckie’s stories are now gathered together for the first time in Lake of Souls.
We begin with the title story, previously unpublished, which showcases Leckie’s blend of SF and Fantasy tropes when an astronaut finds himself marooned on a swampy planet inhabited by an advanced race of “lobster dogs.” It’s a perfect introduction to Leckie’s world, as it presents the difference between science and fantasy as being as much a matter of perspective as of genre labels.
The collection is divided along similar lines, having three parts: miscellaneous stories, SF stories set in the Imperial Radch universe, and Fantasy stories connected to the mythos of her novel The Raven Tower.
It’s the sort of book that will appeal primarily to fans already familiar with the territory. That fandom is a universe that’s expanding though, and while calling Lake of Souls “the collected short fiction” has an air of finality about it, one hopes it doesn’t mean that Leckie’s done with any of these rich fictional worlds.
Alex on SF 
Where are the lobster dogs? No cover art love for this.
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Nope, they didn’t put a lot of effort into this. But it’s the sort of cover that graphic design people like.
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Just for the record, lobster-dogs taste GREAT with bbq sauce…
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They feel the same way about humans.
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I couldn’t agree more.
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They sound intriguing.
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I wasn’t as big on the fantasy stories, and it helps if you know her other stuff for the SF ones. But she’s a good writer.
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